


Wolf at the Door

by wheel_pen



Series: Bedeviled [6]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 02:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8352514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheel_pen/pseuds/wheel_pen
Summary: Sharon Xavier has brought home many men since her husband’s death, but none that can ever replace him. When the latest one is unpleasant to young Charles and Raven, newly adult Erik steps in with an ultimatum.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The bad words are censored; that’s just how I do things. I own nothing and appreciate the chance to play in this universe.

 

Charles@12, Erik@18

Kevin did not have a very good sense of humor, frankly. Charles’s mother’s boyfriends often fell short in this area, Charles felt, but since she had announced she was going to _marry_ this one, he had hoped the man might mellow out a little. Not so, apparently.

“You little s—ts think you’re so funny!” Kevin was shouting, as Charles and Raven laughed. His face had gone all red and he spat when he talked, like a cartoon character. “When I’m married to your mum, there’s gonna be no more of this f-----g nonsense! You’re both going off to boarding school!”

This threat only made Charles laugh harder. He would just like to _see_ someone try to send him away from Erik’s reach—or maybe the school would actually be in the city, even _closer_ to Erik! Hardly a punishment, then. Raven felt less confident about this idea—being ‘sent away’ was still something that frightened her—but since Charles was still laughing, she made sure to laugh even louder.

Kevin could dish out mockery to others but apparently couldn’t take it himself, and in his desperation to win the battle of wills against two children, he started to grab for Raven. She shrieked and dodged, and Charles jumped in to cut Kevin off. He no longer found this funny.

“C’mere, you little—“

“Leave my sister alone!” Charles demanded. He was older and felt protective of her, even though she was the Alpha.

Kevin did not really care which one he snagged and grabbed Charles’s arm roughly—it hurt, but not as much as it scared Charles, about what the man might do next. “You stupid little—“

“Ow!” Charles howled, which he was very good at. Maybe the staff would hear him. “Let go of me!”

“Let go of him!” Raven echoed, coming up to kick Kevin’s shin before ducking away from his flailing hand.

Instead Kevin shook the one child he’d caught harder. “You’re gonna regret the day you messed with me—“

But suddenly Charles knew it was _Kevin_ who was going to regret this day, and the thought almost made him start laughing again. Because Erik had just come up behind Kevin, even though last Charles knew Erik hadn’t been in the house, or even planning to come over today. Like a vengeful storm god, he had appeared out of the clear blue, as sudden and dangerous as a lightning bolt.

Erik’s hand clamped down on Kevin’s shoulder. “Let him go,” he said, his tone so soft it was almost a whisper. When Erik went quiet, that’s when you knew you were in trouble.

Kevin’s hand relaxed on Charles’s arm and he darted away, joining Raven in a hug out of reach. Erik was frequently angry at them, or so he said; but Charles realized, looking at him now, that he had _never_ actually seen Erik angry before, not on this level. The sight was alarming; but also oddly exhilarating.

“Charles, are you alright?” Erik asked mildly, his grip on Kevin not decreasing.

“Yes, Erik,” Charles assured him quickly.

Kevin tried to explain himself. “I was only—“

“Don’t speak,” Erik snapped at him. Kevin was also an Alpha, and older; but he had trespassed on Erik’s territory, and Alphas had ways of dealing with that. “Come on,” Erik ordered, and hauled him away.

**

Later, after Kevin had driven away in a rush and Erik had checked on Charles and Raven—they were being given ice cream by the staff, who had been right behind Erik in the hall, about to intervene—Erik walked around the large house until he found Sharon in her study.

“Oh, hello, Erik,” she greeted pleasantly.

He did not bother responding in kind. “You heard what happened?”

Sharon bent over her desk, shuffling some papers. “Yes, I saw Kevin before he left,” she admitted. “I told him he should never be rough with the children, no matter what they’ve done! That’s just not acceptable.”

Erik settled himself into a chair before her desk, legs stretched out, posture deliberately casual. She was not a monster; but he could not imagine her saying something so firm to her chosen Alpha, at least not with any force behind it. “And how did he respond?” he asked anyway.

“Oh, he was terribly sorry!” Sharon claimed. Sorry to get caught, Erik corrected. “Tomorrow, or whenever he’s able to come back next, he’s going to apologize to Charles and Raven.”

Erik studied her for a moment, seeing the woman he’d known as a ‘grown-up’ for over six years in a—well, not a completely new light, he’d been observing her more the older he got, and had gradually come to the conclusion, at first startling but now natural, that she was not really a ‘grown-up’ at all. Certainly not more than him, and quite possibly less. It was sad, really.

“He’s not going to apologize to them,” Erik stated, with simple confidence, and Sharon looked up at him in surprise. Obviously she’d felt that whatever steps she’d taken in the matter were sufficient and would be appreciated by Erik. “Kevin is not going to see Charles or Raven again.”

Sharon drew herself up a bit, trying to remember her ‘grown-up’ costume, and gave a little laugh. “Well that’s going to be a bit difficult, don’t you think, Erik?” she responded, with the slightest edge in her voice. “Since he’s going to be my husband.”

“I don’t care what you do with yourself, Sharon,” Erik replied. He didn’t usually call her by her first name, as if they were equals. “But from now on, your men are going to stay away from Charles and Raven.”

She gawked at him, then tried to act as though he wasn’t serious. “I know this was very upsetting for you, Erik, for me, too—“

“Sharon, you get a new boyfriend every six months,” Erik pointed out calmly. “I don’t know why you agreed to marry this one, he’s nothing like Brian”—mentioning her late husband was a slap in the face, which he did deliberately—“but if any of them come around Charles and Raven again, I will take them away.”

Sharon stared at him, and Erik stared back, feeling utterly calm. When he was younger, other people’s thoughts and feelings used to bother him, but he’d learned to rise above that and not get distracted by them. At this point, he no longer cared about Sharon’s thoughts and feelings; they were just dead weight. She had lost her capacity to consider her own children, so why should Erik consider _her_?

She couldn’t give in that easily, had to put up _some_ resistance—if he had previously thought of her as a grown-up, obviously she had thought of him as a child. “Erik, you are overreacting,” she tried to tell him firmly. “Now it’s not really your business who I let in my house, or decide to marry, is it?”

“You’re wrong,” Erik informed her. His father always said to be sure of your facts before you walked into a meeting, and he was very sure. “I’m eighteen now. Our contract says I can take possession of Charles at any time. I doubt it would be difficult to get Raven as well.” He saw Sharon’s face tighten as she realized he was serious, so brittle she might crack at any moment. “Keep your boyfriends, fiancés, husbands, and lovers away from Charles and Raven. From this moment on.” Maybe if she wasn’t so distracted by clinging to her latest savior, she would actually pay attention to her children. “Do you understand?”

“Erik, this is ridiculous,” Sharon snapped at him. She started to walk past him, driven out of her own office. “We can speak again when you’re more reasonable—“

“Sharon.” He turned his head slightly, but not much, and heard the click of her shoes on the floor pause. He stayed seated, putting every ounce of Alpha into his posture, into his voice, into his will. “Do you understand?”

There was silence, and Erik began to wonder if she was about to brain him with a blunt object, but he didn’t turn to check. “Yes,” she finally answered, and headed swiftly out the door. He doubted she was going to check on her children.

Well. Now he just had to wait and see if she followed through, or tried to test him. Erik almost wished she would attempt the latter, but she was likely smart enough to realize she would fail. She and her late husband had chosen Erik so Charles would have a protector; and Erik would protect Charles even from his own mother, if necessary.

**

Charles and Raven were still in the kitchen, where Sharon was _not_ , when Erik wandered in. Only now they were considerably stickier. “Have you been _eating_ the ice cream, or bathing in it?” Erik asked dryly, settling down at the table with them.

“It’s so good, Erik!” Charles enthused. “Do you want any? Just a little? If you get full I can finish the rest for you.”

“How generous you are.” Erik’s eyes lingered on the bag of frozen peas that had been duct-taped to Charles’s arm, where Kevin had grabbed him; but he tried to focus on the fact that Charles was eating, which meant he couldn’t be too upset. “Come here,” Erik suggested, and both children ran to crowd onto his lap, transferring dairy residue onto him. He hugged them both anyway, then let them settle on his legs—Charles was small for his age and still fit. “Are you alright?” Erik asked them, making eye contact with both.

“Yes, Erik,” Charles promised. “I’m okay. You saved us! I didn’t even know you were coming today.”

“Is Kevin coming back?” Raven wanted to know, her gummy fingers playing with Erik’s. “I don’t like him!”

“No, he’s mean,” Charles agreed. “Next time he’s here, let’s put a stink bomb in his car!”

Raven heartily agreed, and Erik rolled his eyes at the foolishness of that ‘logic.’ “You will not need any stink bombs,” he assured them, “because Kevin is not coming back.”

Charles stared at him in simple delight. “Ever?”

“Ever,” Erik confirmed.

The children began to cheer, then Charles stopped abruptly. “Oh. Won’t Mummy be sad, if she and Kevin broke up?” he worried. He had a kind heart, stink bombs aside.

“Mummy and I were talking,” Erik explained carefully, “and we agreed that Kevin won’t come here again, or see you and Raven. Or if Mummy finds a new boyfriend, he won’t come around you either.” Erik glanced up to make sure the staff were listening. “So if you see them anywhere, you go straight to a staff member and stay with them, and _call me_ , okay?” Erik emphasized.

“Are they bad?” Raven asked him. She knew about bad people, from her early life.

“Don’t be scared,” Erik tried to tell them, perhaps belatedly. He hugged them close, jostling them to make them laugh. “I’m here to look after you, aren’t I?”

“Kevin was so scared of you!” Charles boasted. “Raven, did you see his face? I bet he peed himself!” This got them both giggling.

Erik declined to comment on that and stood the children up. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up,” he decided, feeling very proud of himself for holding onto their grubby hands. He would get grubbier before the end, he feared. “Then we can play a game, maybe.”

“Let’s play Monopoly!” Charles suggested immediately.

“I get to be the hat!” Raven reserved.

“You’re always the hat!” Charles complained. “I want to be the racecar!”

“You’re always the racecar!”

“Come on, up the stairs,” Erik encouraged. “Don’t touch the railing.” He did not see Sharon around, but hadn’t expected to; her room was in the other wing, where she wouldn’t be disturbed by the children playing. Perhaps she would join them later, after she had convinced herself Erik was right, and she would never be able to replace her late husband—at least, not with her current standards.


End file.
